Volume 11, 1958 - The Arctic Circle - Home

VOL. Xl No, 4 THE ARCTIC CIRCULAR 7Z
delayed en route and it was not until May 29 that we were able to
leave Hall Beach by sledge for W.G, Smith Bay on the west coast.
An 19loolik Eskimo, Pacome Kalaut, was employed for this trip.
We travelled westward over the snow..covered Palaeozoic lowland
to Hall Lake and then across to the mouth of the "Kingora River"
at the southwest corner of the lake, We then followed the river
valley to Sarcpa Lake which we reached on June 1. Travelling
conditions. at first good, deteriorated in the valley where deep,
soft snow impeded the heavily loaded sledge" From Sarcpa Lake
the route lay west alon" the valley of a river draining into the
lake and over a low divide to the stream flowing to W .G. Smith
Bay. Blowing snow forced a one-day stop and it was not until
June 6 that we reached the west coast, Caribou, although not
numerous, were noted in small groups in the interior of the
peninsula.
On June 11 we left W.G. Smith Bay and sledged along
the west coast of the peninsula toward Fury and Hecla Strait. We
planned to travel quickly to the western entrance of the strait and
then to retrace the route mo=e slowly to our base. Extremely
rough ice made travelling difficult, however, and we had to turn
back at Franklin Bay, 30 mi>~s south of Fury and Hecla Strait.
This was the farthest point =ea·~hed by Dr. John Rae of the
Hudson's Bay Company in 1847, the only previous traveller along
this part of the coast. On the return trip stops were made at the
mouths of all the larger stream vi.'.:leys and foot traverses were
made inland. The weather W3,S very fOGGY in the early days but
improved considerably after June 20. We returned to W .G. Smith
Bay on June 29.
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On July 1 a short sledge trip was made to Erlandson
Bay, 25 miles south of W •G, Smith Bay. Here there occurs a
narrow coastal lowland possibly underlain by flat-lying sedimentary
strata flanking the interior Preca.mbriar: crystalline rock. Wales
Island, lying just c"shore, is almost certainly underlain by
Palaeozoic formations and these are possib:y of similar age to
those found on Simpson Peninsula. Caribou were plentiful On the
coastal slopes in this area. The sea icc on Committee Bay in the
lee of Wales Island was smoother than that encountered farther
north. Large numbers of rinsed seal were often seen basking in the
sun at the edses of open cracks in the ice, A few square-flipper
seals were seen in early July. We returned tQ W .G. Smith Bay
on July 4.
Among other studies we determined the limit of
postglacial marine submersen~ea.t approximately ten places along